Metallic Phase For Bosons Implies New State Of Matter: Science Daily

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Heisenberg uncertainty principle places severe constraints on the subatomic world. To illustrate, for particles called bosons, the principle dictates that bosons either condense to form a superconductor or they must remain localized in an insulator. However, experiments conducted during the last 15 years on thin films have revealed a third possibility: Bosons can exist as a metal. Scientists have been struggling to interpret this surprising result.

"The conventional theory of metals is in crisis," said Philip Phillips, a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "The observation of a metallic phase for bosons directly contradicts conventional wisdom. A satisfactory explanation requires a new state of matter."

Writing in the Oct. 10 issue of the journal Science, Phillips and Denis Dalidovich -- a former graduate student now working at Florida State University -- analyze the thin-film experiments and offer a new explanation in which the charge-carrying bosons condense into a glass-like, metallic state.